


Every hero has an origin story

by ilikewolfstar



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: references to victor nikiforov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 16:36:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11256750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilikewolfstar/pseuds/ilikewolfstar
Summary: Six year old Otabek Altin tags along with his brother to the local ice rink, despite being told that he doesn't know how to skate. Though when he walks out, it marks the beginnings of someone greater than the young Kazakh boy who walked in.





	Every hero has an origin story

“Mama, where’s Ali going?” The young Kazakh boy peered out from the kitchen, the sound of footsteps shuffling down stairs attracting him. He turned to see his mother, who’s back was turned to him as she washed the dishes from that morning’s breakfast. 

“I don’t know, Otabek.” She answered, drying off a plate and glancing over her shoulder to look at her son. “Why don’t you go ask him?” She suggested, going back to what she had been doing previously. 

With a small nod, Otabek left the kitchen. He followed his elder brother, who was heading towards the front door. Otabek reached out, grabbing onto his brother’s sleeve. “Where’re you going?” He looked up, watching his brother turn his head to meet his eyes. 

There was a twinge of a frown before an answer came, “Just with my friends. Go back to the kitchen, Otabek.” Ali pulled his sleeve away, hoping that his younger brother would be content with that answer. 

He wasn’t.

“But why’re you dressed so warm? It’s summer, you’re gonna get too warm.” Otabek let his hands fall to his sides now, but that didn’t mean he’d let his brother go. 

Ali sighed. “Because we’re going to the ice rink and it’s cold there so-” He didn’t get to finish his sentence before being cut off with the very last thing he wanted to hear. 

“Can I come?” It had been asked innocently enough. Otabek wasn’t trying to annoy his brother by asking him if he could tag along, nor was he trying to do so because he loved spending time with his brother. In truth, Otabek simply thought it would be more interesting than being at home with nothing to do. 

“What?! No, Otabek, you can’t even skate.” Ali shook his head. “And I’m not going to babysit my six year old brother the whole time.” He furrowed his brows, seemingly having made up his mind about this. 

Otabek was rocking on his heels now, wondering to himself why Ali had so much authority over him, when their difference in age only four years. “I’m almost seven.” He murmured, mimicking his brother’s expression. 

“Not for another three months you won’t be, Basically four, your birthday is on the very last day of the month.” He spat back, “I’m. Not. Taking. You.”

Right then, as if the universe decided that Ali was damned to never look cool in front of his friends, a voice chimed from the kitchen. “Ali, take your younger brother to the rink with you.” 

Ali groaned, then mumbled a quiet. “Fine.” He turned towards the door, listening to small footsteps following him now. 

The two boys, one satisfied and the other mildly annoyed, began to head to the rink together.  
___________________________________________________________________________

“Ali, I don’t know how to tie these.” The skates felt clunky and heavy on his feet, and the laces were way longer than what Otabek was used to. Even then, three fourths of his shoes were velcro anyway. He swung his legs, looking over at his brother. Otabek waved to try and get his attention, calling out again. “Ali!” 

Ali departed from his friends to lace up Otabek’s skates, going on one knee to do it. “I don’t want you doing this the entire time, calling my name whenever you need help. I can’t leave my friends every two minutes. If you need help, ask someone who works here. And if someone tries to kidnap you, remember the knives on your feet.” Ali stood up when he finished. He ruffled Otabek’s hair and then went off with his friends. 

Otabek sat on the bench for maybe a minute after that, just watching his brother and his friends get onto the ice. He thought about the instructions to not call for Ali whenever help was needed, walking around the bench to get used to just walking in the skates. When he decided that he was okay with walking, he headed onto the ice. 

Otabek stepped on, trying to keep still. No, wait, now he was gliding. Okay, it had been less than ten seconds and he’d already fallen. But there was no calling Ali for help, was there? So the young boy hoisted himself up by the railing and held onto it tightly. Holding onto it still, Otabek tried to move his feet. He was sure that without this railing, he would fall.

After some amount of time, it was clear to Otabek that he would fall with or without the railing. He knew he couldn’t skate, but he had at least thought he’d sort of get the hang of it. His cheeks were flushed with pink and he wished that he had come with some gloves. Otabek held onto the railing still, looking at the other people at the rink. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun. Especially his brother. 

It felt hard to have fun when he didn’t know how to skate.

It felt even harder when there was no one around to help him up when he fell. 

Otabek tore his eyes from the crowd, feeling a small lump forming in his throat. His eyes felt warm too. Otabek pulled himself along the railing, getting off the ice. He looked around for a couple of moments before finding a bathroom, which he quickly headed to.

The small boy wasn’t sure how long he’d been in there. He hadn’t left until his cheeks were dry and his eye weren’t puffy and red. 

When Otabek got back on the ice, he stayed there for a couple of minutes before deciding that he was tired. He knew that Ali had told him not to ask him for help, but he’d never said anything about not telling him that he wanted to go home. Otabek looked towards the amount of people, which had thinned a little since he had last been out there.

He looked left. He looked right. He looked ahead. No sign of his brother. 

“Ali!” Otabek called out, trying to look around, “Ali!” Otabek yelled again, but he still was unable to see him. 

Otabek pulled himself on the railing, looking around still. He was unable to find his brother, unable to find any of his friends.

Whether or not Ali’s leaving him alone in the rink was intentional didn’t matter much to Otabek. What mattered was that he didn’t know any way to contact him or how to get home. 

He supposed that he’d just have to wait here until someone came to get him.

“Hey, you. Who’re you yelling for?” A girl with stark black hair and polka dot, well, everything spoke to him now. She didn’t look much older than him, One year, maybe.

Otabek didn’t want to answer, though he had been told time and time again by his mother that not answering a question simply because he wished not to was rude. “My brother. He’s gone.” He told her. “Now I’m waiting for him.”

“Sucks to be you, then.” She placed her hands on her hips, “You can’t skate and you’re stuck at this rink.” There was a hint of laughter in her voice. 

Otabek frowned, “So? It’s not my fault. No one ever taught me..” She couldn’t laugh at him for that, right? 

“What about that brother of yours?” The polka dot girl tilted her head a little. 

“Didn’t wanna.”

“Oh! I know, I have a coach. He’ll teach you.” She pointed over across the rink to an adult man. “He taught me.” 

Otabek felt hesitant. But knowing to skate didn’t seem so bad either. And he wasn’t sure how long he’d be here before someone came to get him. He nodded. 

With this nod, the polka dot girl grabbed his hand and attempted to take Otabek across the rink. She frowned when she realized that Otabek was still also holding onto the railing. “You baby, come on. All we need to do is skate through the middle of the rink and get to them.” 

“No, no. I can’t skate on my own, I’ll fall.” Otabek shook his head, frowning a little. 

“So?” She gave him a toothy grin. “Everyone falls sometimes. Even the greats. But they get up. You will too.” She yanked harshly now, causing Otabek to let go of the railing as she dragged him through the middle of the rink. 

“H-hey, wait!” Otabek held on tightly to her hand, feeling his legs slip beneath him, making him unable to stay still while she was taking him through the middle of the rink. Perhaps the longest fifteen seconds of his life up to date. 

Otabek clung tightly onto the railing when they reached their destination, his own thoughts clouding over what she was saying to the adult man.

“Maira, look at him. You’ve gone and scared just about everything out of the little guy.” 

So that was polka dot girl’s name. Maira. 

He heard her speak again. “He should be scared anyway, he’s all alone!” Maira said, gesturing over to Otabek. 

The man kneeled a little bit. “Is that true? Are you here alone? Where are your parents?” He asked, looking down at the younger boy.

Otabek shrugged.“My brother took me. But he’s gone now, I’m waiting for him to come back.” He explained.

He stood straight again, nodding a little. “Okay. Well. Then stay here with me and we’ll watch you until he comes back. Maira, go back to what I told you to do.”

Otabek nodded too, quiet as the adult ushered him into the same space where he stayed. Otabek peered over the wall to the rink, looking as the Maira resumed what she had been doing before. 

“What’s she doing?” He asked the man, looking up to him now.

”Skating.”

“”But no one else here skates like that. She’s jumping, she’s spinning.” Otabek pointed out, looking back to her.

“No one else here is like her.” 

“What’s that mean?” Otabek felt like he was only getting more and more confused. 

“She wants to be what she calls ‘one of the greats’.”

“Well, what does that mean?” Otabek asked, pouting slightly, “Who’s a great? What makes you a great?”

“What Maira likes to call ‘the greats’ are all of the professional figure skaters. Victor Nikiforov of Russia, for example. He made his senior debut not too long ago and is dominating the field already. He’s got gold medals. Medals are what mark their careers.”

Otabek took some time to comprehend all of what he said, then he nodded. “Okay. Then if he’s got gold medals and he’s from Russia, who from Kazakhstan has medals?”

“No one.”

Otabek looked out to the ice, watching Maira. “She might get one.” He fell silent for a couple of moments before adding. “I might get one.” 

He could tell that this man was giving him a strange look, so Otabek spoke again. “I’ll learn to skate, I’ll win a medal for Kazakhstan.” 

“Young man, this is no joke. You’d have to put in a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of work.”

Otabek only nodded, “I can do it. I will do it. She can do it, so can I. You teach her, right? Teach me. I’ll tell my parents, I’ll come every single day.” 

He looked down at this small, shy looking boy. This boy who looked like he had made up his mind in only a matter of moments. A decision made by small boy in seconds that took some people a very long time to decide on. “Fine, kid. You tell your parents and come back to me.” He said. 

After this, it was only five minutes before Otabek’s brother came back, calling out the name of the young boy. From what Otabek could tell, Ali hadn’t left him there on purpose. It was a quiet exchange from the rink to the benches, from the skates to his sneakers. 

This time on the way home, Ali held onto Otabek’s hand. They were silent until Otabek spoke up. 

“Ali, guess what.”

Ali looked down at his younger brother. “What?”

“I’m gonna become a professional figure skater.”

Ali continued to look down at Otabek. A sarcastic tone took over his voice. “Okay, Otabek. Sure you will.” 

Otabek stomped his foot. “I will. And when I win my first medal, I’ll smack you in the face.”


End file.
